Plans (scuppered)
typed for your pleasure on 15 September 2008, at 12.10 amSdtrk: ‘Fourth of July’ by Galaxie 500
As it was the first Sunday after Labo(u)r day, Mari, the lads and I were going to hit the Battle of the Brits event over at Freedom Hill, and stroll amidst numerous parked MGs, classic Mini Coopers of all stripes, and that one bloke who always brings his DeLorean. Not this year, though! O, no no. But I’m getting ahead of myself.
Pretty much late Friday, it’d been raining quite a bit in the SE Michigan area, the fact of which can undoubtedly be blamed on Hurricane Ike, which is currently paying a visit to my friend Jaems over there. Despite being several states away from Texas, Michigan’s weather stability is as fragile as glass. You’re familiar with the whole ‘a butterfly flaps its wings somewhere and China explodes’ analogy? That’s pretty much par for the course with Michigan. A butterfly flaps its wings somewhere, and over here, the very ground erupts, belching forth random superheated jets of steam. It could be worse, obviously, but still. Aside from that, someone needs to find that butterfly and kill it, if it cannot be contained through ordinary means. So when I woke up (late) on Saturday, it’d already been pissing down for hours, with no end in sight until Monday-ish, according to the weatherman.
Now, with the Battle of the Brits, the programme directors stick to that date, rain or shine, despite the fact that as they only hold it for one day in an open-air area. Which seems, I dunno, retarded? I can understand that strolling amidst a passel of Minis in the rain would accurately replicate being in damp ol’ Engerland, but would you want that? They’ve been holding this event for years; surely they could find a venue with a roof? At any rate, we were crossing our fingers, hoping for a turnaround with the weather for Sunday.
So as I’d said, it’d been pissing down all day, and I had nearly finished getting ready for hanging out wi’ the lads like we do every Saturday eve. Round 5pm, I was looking up stuff online about the esoteric UK Seventies telly series ‘Children of the stones‘, and waiting for Zip Gun to swing round and pick me up, when I heard a muffled explosion in the near distance. Nothing huge; just a sound you’d perhaps expect from an engine block detonating. Seconds later, the power at Deafening silence Plus went out. Following that, about a minute later, I heard my neighbours emerge from their apartments, asking if the power had gone out. Answer: yes. Turns out a transformer blew across the road, killing the power to our little complex. The landlord’s understudy (don’t ask) informed us that Edison would have it taken care of in about three hours, which was okay with me, as I was heading out anyway. Although I didn’t get a chance to shave, but I’d live. So as I had about twenty minutes to kill before ZG’s appearance, I uncharacteristically took my folding stool outside and finished reading my copy of J.D Salinger’s ‘Franny and Zooey’. Lovely book, highly recommended.
After Zip Gun picked me up, we then sped out to aneamo’s place to pick him up, then we hit the local Steak n Shake for dinner, which is something we’d not done in years. Following that, we made a tactical strike on an area Meijer, and then a GameStop, so I could buy Yakuza 2, which just came out last week. Lovely game, highly recommended. Any game that crosses exploring a small Japanese metropolis with the ability to beat a man to death with a bicycle is pretty highly-ranked in my book.
The three of us converged on SafeT’s humble abode, meeting up with goshou who’d already been there for a while, and alternately played retro videogames, petted his cats and dogs, and watched ‘Logan’s run’, until roughly two in the morning. Before we took off, the lot of us had pretty much come to the conclusion that since we were still in the midst of la deluge, that we’d give the Battle of the Brits a miss and move on with our lives, as it would most likely be raining tomorrow as well.
Well, guess what?
I woke up round 11am, which was really surprising, as I’d a) not bothered to set the alarm, b) Shi-chan failed to wake me up (which happens more often than you’d think), and c) I’d gone to bed at 7am, due to punching and kicking my way through Yakuza 2 the night / morning before. Not only was the pavement dry, but it was actually a sunny 75°F out. Huh! Huh.
So rather than the report I was going to write up concerning the Battle of the Brits, you get this instead! To finish, enjoy this pic of Your Humble Narrator, taken by Monti, when we attended the 1998 BotB.
Mine would be black with silver stripes. And central air
As for me, it’s back to Yakuza 2! After all, those cheap punks won’t hit themselves with lead pipes, no matter how politely you ask
Random similar posts, for more timewasting:
Do not disappoint us, Zack Snyder on March 5th, 2009
At the bedside of Mistress English Language, holding her hand as she wastes away on August 7th, 2005
September 16th, 2008 at 1.44 am
hmmm looks like both of us wasted the weekend playing video games. You Yakuza2, me GTA4 and Phoenix Wright 3. Sorry you missed BotB as it sounds interesting. Is it just all cars? Any bands?
September 17th, 2008 at 1.38 pm
Phoenix Wright, you say? OBJECTION!! *points dramatically*
The BotB is pretty fun, yeah. No bands, just a bunch of middle-aged gentlemen in all sorts of UK-made vehicles. And, like I’d said, that one fellow that always brings his DeLorean. Having never before seen one up close, I was astonished as to how wide that car actually is! And there’s like a little cargo net in its near-non-existent back seat.
Perhaps that’s really the essence of the Battle of the Brits — the learning. It’s a fine way to kill a couple of hours once a year, that’s for sure.
And technically, I’m still playing Yakuza 2! I was up until 4am last night! I think I have a problem.
September 20th, 2008 at 5.59 pm
So, Mr.Cat, what exactly is the differance between Battle of the Brits and the Woodward Dream Cruise?
*smiles micheviously*
September 21st, 2008 at 9.53 pm
*sputters* What is the difference? What is the difference?? Well, let me tell you, missy:
1) All British-made autos and motorcycles (yeah, and that DeLorean guy)
2) All the vehicles are parked on a field, as opposed to blocking traffic on a major road
3) It’s just plain better
4) So there
I bet you think you’re sooo clever.
September 27th, 2008 at 12.10 pm
I do 🙂